Ways to Utilize the Career Development Center Effectively

Photo Credit / Leah Fuls
Sharone Jones, Director of Career Development and Workforce Development, helps student with her career choices.

Leah Fuls

Staff Writer

ESU’s Career Development Center provides students with services to help them get internships and prepare them for their future careers.

Some of the career center’s services include reviewing a student’s cover letter, resume and supply them with mock interviews.

The employees at the career center also help students find internships and provide career counseling as guidance towards a path and career that relates to their major.

Along with these services, they also have personality testing and a professional testing center used to prepare students for tests such as the Praxis.

Students can even submit their resumes online to be reviewed if they do not feel comfortable meeting in person at the center.

Student worker, Jared Grabert’s advice about the center is “to come early and to come often.”

Career advisor, Debbie Smith was highly recommended to speak and work with because she has helped so many students find their path when they had no direction.

Makenley Jean, a junior at ESU was accepted into an internship with J.P Morgan. Jean utilized every service the center provided and used it to prepare him and land this internship.

Jean also wants to implement an intern recruiter program for ESU students to be aware of companies and internships that are hiring.

The Career Development Center also holds many events for students so that they can improve their skills and network with others.

They held an Etiquette Dinner event on Feb. 13 so that students could learn how to act at dinners that are common with major companies.

The next event is the “JCPenney Suit-Up.” Here students can get 40 percent off career apparel they will need for interviews and in the workplace. This will be held at the Stroud Mall on Sunday, Mar. 24 from 6-9 p.m.

On Tuesday, Mar. 26 there will be a “Career & Internship EXPO & LinkedIn Photos” event. Students are encouraged to dress professionally and bring multiple copies of their resume because there will be 75 employers attending. This event will be held at the Innovation Center from 1-3:30 p.m.

“Post EXPO Career Conversations” will be right afterward from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Innovation Center Conference Room. Employers will share information and some internships and jobs will also be available.

Director of Career and Workplace Development, Sharone Jones stated that she believes students need a road map from Freshman year until their career and that the career center helps make this road map possible for students.

She also mentioned that although they have the right tools, they need to find a way to better communicate with students and make it more appealing, so that students will use these resourceful programs they offer.

Jones also remarked that she believes spring break will give them the time they need to reassess and reorganize the department and figure out how to really engage with the topics and communicating them to students.

Students can use the center’s resources even after they have graduated, a student returned five years later for help and guidance from the career center.

Jones stated: “There’s a gap, students’ go to school for four years and they still don’t know what they want to do and don’t have a job, we want to close that gap.”